MIDDLEBURY — Mary Hogan Principal Thomas Buzzell and Assistant Principal Steven Lindemann welcome Mary Hogan students and parents to the 2015-2016 school year. As the new school year approaches, the Mary Hogan staff is busy preparing for opening day on Wednesday, Aug. 26.
The traditional “Muffins at Mary Hogan” will be held in the school gymnasium from 7:50-9 a.m. on the first day of school, Aug. 26. Parents and guardians are invited to bring their children to their classrooms on the first day and then to stop in the gymnasium to spend a few minutes visiting with other families, board members and members of the school and district staff. Veteran Mary Hogan parents are encouraged to come and welcome new Mary Hogan families. Those new to the school are invited to come and meet a great group of parents.
Mary Hogan students should be in school by 8:10 a.m. Bus routes are designed so that all buses should arrive at Mary Hogan by 8 a.m. Parents driving or walking students to school should plan to arrive between 7:50 and 8:10. This will allow them sufficient time to complete their morning routine prior to the start of the instructional day at 8:15. Students must arrive on time in order to participate in the breakfast program. Children arriving after 8:10 will be marked tardy. At the end of the day, bus riders will be dismissed beginning at 2:50 and all others will be dismissed starting at 2:55 p.m.
The Abbey Group will be the food service provider for Middlebury K-12 schools. The Abbey Group is a Vermont company and committed to providing delicious, healthy, locally sourced foods for our school meals. Details about pricing and menus are being mailed home to parents on Aug. 19.
The new Addison Central Supervisory Union website is live at acsu.org. An upgraded Mary Hogan School website at maryhoganschool.org will launch this fall. Parents who have children at various schools in ACSU will see a calendar that lists events at all schools. This will help parents find out about the goings-on in ACSU in one convenient place.
The school staff will continue their focus on place-based education in connecting students to the natural environment and their world through full participation in inter-disciplinary units of study. Some examples of this focus are: raising brook trout for release in our local waters; growing food that augments the school’s summer lunch program in raised-bed vegetable gardens; offering inquiry-based science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics instruction (STEAM); and promoting inter-generational connections with students and community members through the Everybody Wins reading mentor program. Other initiatives include the Responsive Classroom approach, with an emphasis on creating and maintaining a school climate that enables optimal academic and social growth to support children’s positive and productive learning in their classrooms; and the fifth annual Read-a-Thon in November planned by MESA (Middlebury Elementary School Association), both a fundraiser and a celebration of reading.
Families new to Mary Hogan are encouraged to register their children prior to the first day of school. This enables the principals to make a thoughtful placement for each child. The Mary Hogan staff looks forward to working with parents to make the 2015-2016 school year academically productive and enjoyable for the children. Please contact the school office at 388-4421 to register or for more information.
Updated bus routes for all Middlebury elementary, middle school and high school students are on the school website at maryhoganschool.org and will be printed this Thursday in the Addison Independent. Please note several “in-town” stops added last year to bus routes.